224 



A COUNTRY READER. 



attacked will soon lose condition, and in some 

 cases will die. 



Harmful to Crops. 



Wire Worms, Of all pests to our crops the 

 wire worm is perhaps the 

 worst ; it eats all the under- 

 ground parts of potatoes 

 and turnips, as well as the 

 underground stem parts of 

 grain plants. It also does 

 much damage in meadow 

 and grassland ; in fact 

 there is nothing that 

 seems to come amiss to it. 

 You must all have noticed, 

 in the midst of a flourishing 

 crop of grain or roots, 

 large bare patches, some- 

 times acres in extent. 

 That clearance has most 

 probably been the work of 

 the wire worm. 



At first the green- 

 looking grain crop looks 

 healthy enough, then a slight tinge of yellow 

 comes over it, till at last it disappears. The 

 wire worm, underground, has gnawed through 

 the roots. 



WIRE WORM. 



